The Outer Forms of Worship
Throughout history, certain religions, due to their tampering,
have placed more emphasis on the inner format of worship, wholly or partially
dismissing the importance of the outer, while others have placed more emphasis
on apparent and visible acts of rituals, diminishing the value of belief. As
mentioned earlier, in Islam, there is no absolute separation between the inner
and outer - the inner state produces and ought to produce outer manifestations,
and outer conditions and actions have inner consequences. There is certainly a
correspondence between the inner and outer state, and each tends to modify the
other. All inner intentions lead to equivalent postures and actions. One can
often judge a person's inner state by his outer. A person in despair or fear,
for instance, has a certain posture and expression on his face. Conversely, if
certain activities or postures are adopted then the equivalent inner state will
result.
Visible acts of worship offered to God are fruits of the
Muslim’s belief. For this reason, not only does Islam demand that a person
believe in the ultimate truths laid out in its doctrine, but it also demands
that belief in God produce visible action. It is not enough for one to
maintain certain beliefs for salvation, but rather deeds are essential in order
for one to be successful in this life and the next.
God has commanded that Muslims fulfill certain
commandments throughout the course of their lives, exemplified in the five
pillars of Islam. These have been prescribed daily, such as the prayer, and annually,
such as the compulsory charity and the fast of Ramadan, or as little as once in
a person’s life, such as the Hajj. There are many other acts of worship prescribed
in Islam other than the five pillars, some of which are obligatory and others of
which are voluntary, their performance left to a Muslim’s discretion.
Though there is a ritual connected with these acts of
worship, they should not be mistaken for ritualism or regimentation. Acts of
worship must be done with full awareness of what one is doing and awareness of
the presence of God. Actions performed mechanically or as habits produce only
automatons and do not facilitate spiritual growth.
“It is not righteousness that you turn your faces toward the
East or the West, but righteous is he who believes in God and the Last Day and
the Angels and the Book and the Prophets, and gives his beloved money to his
relatives and the orphans and the needy and for the ransoming of captives and
who observes prayer and pays the poor-due; and those who fulfill their promises
when they have made one, and the patient in poverty and affliction and the
steadfast in time of war; it is those who have proved truthful and it is those
who are the God-fearing.” (Quran 2:177)
The Purpose and Benefit of Worship
God is not in need of our worship. Worship has been
legislated in Islam and all other previous religions for the benefit of
humanity, both in the individual and societal sense. Worship is essential for
the maintenance of spirituality in the life of Muslims and its growth. Formal
worship trains the individual to love his Creator and to develop constant
awareness of God. God says:
“O people! Worship your Lord Who has created you and those
before you in order that you may be of the God-conscious.” (Quran 2:21)
God also said to Moses:
“…And establish the prayer in order to remember Me.” (Quran
20:14)
Acts of worship serve as a means through which one
remembers God and maintains a relationship with Him. Muslims perform prayer a
minimum of five times daily in order to maintain this relationship. When a one
supplicates, implores, praises God, recites verses from His revelation, which
has been called “the Reminder”, along with
other forms of worship throughout the day, they will gain the sense that the
Power and Knowledge of God is present with them at all times, leading them to
this sense of God-consciousness.
Worship also creates a strong sense within a Muslim to
remove the evil within himself and in the community and environment and to
establish the word of God throughout the world. God says:
“…Indeed the prayer prevents one from committing licentious
and evil deeds…” (Quran 29:45)
Again, when a person spends his day performing specific
acts of worship, they are constantly reminded of the purpose of life and their
final end, and this in turn helps them to accord their lives to the Will of
God, doing what He is pleased with and avoiding what He dislikes.
One can clearly see the impact worship has on a collective
level. Society is merely a conglomeration of individuals, and when individuals
are spiritually and morally upright, the society itself will also be upright. Ideally,
the society will be one which feels that God is ever-watching over them; one to
which beneficent acts of kindness will be an inseparable adjective, and sin and
vice will be confined and limited.
Although it may seem to some that worship and obedience
to God is similar to imprisonment and slavery, the worship of God and servitude
to Him actually liberates humans from all types of subjugation. A person break
frees from the chains of society, peers, and family, and liberates him to
please His One True Lord. This is true freedom that brings about security and
contentment. Servitude to God is ultimate source of freedom.
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